Cloudburst Ice Magic Read Online Free Page B

moving. Yeah,
easier said than done.
    After a thousand heartbeats, a figure
approached them from the surface of the iced lake. She stood
shorter than most Ice Demon females and walked with curiously
sinuous motion as if related to an eel or a snake. Brilliant blue
eyes took in all the details of Zach and Cade as she stopped on the
shore before them. The emotional scents of age and wisdom filled
Zach’s nose, and he found himself bowing before he even noticed
he’d moved.
    “Welcome back, young Cliffrose. How fares
your family?” The Matriarch’s voice reminded Zach of sifting trains
of snow over smooth rocks, both soft and relentless.
    “They are well, thank you, Matriarch.” Cade
executed a graceful bow. “Please let me present a friend, Zachary
Snow from the Sandfoot clan. He requested an introduction because
he needs to visit your demesne.”
    “Ah, so I see. Thank you for bringing him,
Cliffrose. Please, find refreshment after your journey in the ice
fields.” Though her words were gracious, they held true
command.
    Cade shot a look at Zach before he bowed
again and followed a path opening in the mist away from the lake.
Zach fought to keep calm. Each passing moment put Lily and the
others in greater danger. He’d received no texts or emails, and the
lack of communication drove him crazy.
    “Now, then, Mr. Snow. What brings you to our
demesne?” The Matriarch fixed him with a sharp look. Her hair
crystals sat arranged in a glorious cascade of white and silver
around her head, glinting in the increasing light.
    “I’ve come to ask permission to stay and
work here in your mountains, Matriarch.” He tried to keep the
rising tension out of his voice.
    “Intriguing. I thought the Sandfoot clan was
highly nomadic. Why would you wish to make your home range
here?”
    “I haven’t decided if this will be my
permanent home, but there’s something I need to take care of here
and it’s urgent. I simply didn’t want to offend you by coming
without your say-so.”
    Icedora tilted her head and narrowed her
eyes. “I think there’s more to this than you say, Mr. Snow. It is
good you stopped to see me. Has this to do with the human hikers
who have been lost in the Spring Fling?”
    “You know about them?”
    “Oh, yes. Just because we live on the
mountaintops doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to the slopes.”
She eyed him carefully. “These humans mean something to you?”
    “I’ve worked with the humans in Search and
Rescue for the last twenty years, and I’m very pleased to help
them.” He paused and took a chance. “But this time, it’s personal.
One of the SAR professionals is a friend of mine, and I can’t leave
her out there to die if I can help it.”
    The small woman took two steps to him and
grasped his jaw with her taloned hand, scanning his eyes.
    “Ah, she means more to you than friendship.”
A smile curled her lips around her protruding canines. “You’re
mated to this human, yes?”
    How in the Ninth Hell did she see
that? It didn’t matter. He couldn’t lie to a ten thousand year
old Ice Demon and get away with it.
    Zach swallowed hard. “Yes, Matriarch. We
mated the winter before last and she is human. But I swear by
Freya, the mating was honorable and accepted by the Goddess.”
    A joyful smile curled Icedora’s lips. “I
have no doubt Freya watches over you, Mr. Snow.” She patted his
cheek and released him. “I give you permission to be in our
mountains and to rescue your humans. But when you’ve rested and
recovered your mate, you must both return to the Tarn to see
me.”
    “You want me to bring my human mate to Ice
Demon sacred ground?”
    Icedora laughed, the sound echoing off the
walls around the lake like a shower of gravel. “Yes, Zachary. I
must see the female who has rooted one of the rootless Sandfoot
clan.” Then she sobered. “You don’t have much time. She and the
humans are located midway down a valley the humans call Quicksilver
Chute. While none